Sowing Season
Never leave your drink unattended. It might get spiked. Cast * Sam Yao * Nadia Al Hanaki * Bernard Prior * Veronica McShell * Maxine Myers Plot Time For This Mission Sam tries to console you, knowing you were not in control of your actions when you blew up the Comansys ship, and reassures you that you’re forgiven. Just Be Careful Bernard was an industrial chemist before the outbreak, so he is running with you and Veronica to ensure all traces of calming plant extract are destroyed. Don't Waste The Moment You’re heading towards the old tequila distillery, where it turns out Moonchild was keeping her supplies. You must neutralise the extract chemically on site. Find The Extract You knock out a guard, but before you can proceed, Veronica realises that she recognises her, so you drag the unconscious body to safety. Efficient Setup You and Maxine neutralise the distillation vats. Bernard admires Moonchild’s setup, if not her aims, ruing not shooting her when she took you to her bunker. Go After Her Maxine noted that six vats were missing from the last room; apart from those, you’ve neutralised every tank in the building. Go Somewhere Already Veronica reveals that Moonchild visited treetop base and offered everyone ginseng tea; shortly after, all the scientists upped and walked out. Only For Tonight Mrs Evans came to the treetop base to investigate something she learned at the Natural History Museum; Veronica reckons it’s time to pick up where she left off. Transcript SAM YAO: Hey! Yeah, yeah, you made it up to Dunder Wood in just under your usual time. I think we can definitely say you haven’t lost any fitness, and uh, you haven’t lost anything else, either. No, really, you can take my word for it. Doc Myers has run every test under the sun on you. Your brain scans check out, now just like hers do. No response to the tones. That cocktail Runner Three injected you with has done the business. sighs I mean, the stupid thing is that you’re one of the few people in the world now who’s definitely not susceptible to the mind control anymore. I know that doesn’t make it any easier. You know, people do stupid, bad, dangerous things all the time. They don’t even have the excuse of, “Oh, my brain was taken over by an evil hippie determined to make everyone in the world happy all the time.” As if you could be happy all the time, as if it’d even be okay to be happy all the time. I still think about Alice sometimes, you know. I’m happy I knew her. I think it’d be uh, yeah, sort of an insult to her to be able to just be happy when I think about her turning into a walking corpse. Sometimes it feels good to not feel good. My mum used to say that to me. There was this time, right, when I was seven. My granddad had made this huge cake for my sister’s birthday, in the shape of a castle, and left it on the kitchen table. I mean, I knew I wasn’t supposed to have any, but I was seven. And you know what’s coming, right? It was a castle cake. I thought maybe I could just eat a turret, and no one would notice. But then it looked uneven, so I ate the other turret. And then I was like, ugh, it’s going to be really clear I’ve eaten those two turrets, and I thought maybe I could destroy all the evidence, and go like, “What cake? There was never a cake. You imagined the cake, granddad.” I made myself so sick, my mum didn’t even punish me. She just said, “This feeling is your punishment.” And she put me to bed, and held the bucket for when I sicked up about three pounds of cake. And what I mean is, it’s okay to feel how you feel. None of us are holding what you did against you. We all know you weren’t in control. But it’s alright not to feel that yourself. I mean, if you felt okay about it, that’s when we’d start to worry. Right, okay. Time for this mission. We’re going to stop Moonchild doing what she did to you to anyone else. They’re waiting for you. MAXINE MYERS: Runner Five, over here! SAM YAO: Ah, there they are, by that big oak tree. Maxine, Veronica, and um, oh, New Canton have sent, oh, what’s his name? That Permanent Advisory Council man. Posh, bossy, really bad-tempered. Oh, what is he called? BERNARD PRIOR: It’s Bernard Prior, Mister Yao. SAM YAO: Oh! Um, oh. Hi, Bernard! Didn’t realize you’d patched into my channel. MAXINE MYERS: While it’s great that New Canton and Abel are working so closely together now… BERNARD PRIOR: We’re giving you all the assistance we can, Doctor. It was I who suggested we could house that prisoner of yours, Isabel Mariot. SAM YAO: Oh, yeah, that was great! I mean, the Ministry’s had to do a full mind control audit of all their personnel. Did you hear on Rofflenet? King Jamie had to get rid of his bodyguards because they were mind-controlled and tried to open up the palace gates to the zoms? MAXINE MYERS: All that being said, for this mission, I kind of thought New Canton would send a runner? BERNARD PRIOR: I was an industrial chemist before the outbreak. New Canton PAC wants double confirmation the target is neutralized. VERONICA MCSHELL: I know what I’m doing. I don’t need adult supervision. If your intel is correct, of course. BERNARD PRIOR: It most definitely is. VERONICA MCSHELL: If you can take me to Moonchild’s store of the calming plant extract, then I can destroy it. MAXINE MYERS: No more CeretinPlus, no new people susceptible to mind control, no new slaves for Moonchild. BERNARD PRIOR: It would be our most significant victory in this conflict to date! I would rather have expected Abel to send a bigger team. Moonchild will have this place heavily guarded. MAXINE MYERS: Yeah, and she’ll try mind-controlling anyone who does attack. VERONICA MCSHELL: With Runner Five and Doctor Myers along, at least I don’t have to worry about the people I’m with turning on me when they hear a mind control tone. NADIA AL HANAKI: Testing, testing, one two three. Abel team, do you copy? SAM YAO: Yeah, we can hear you, Nadia. Hey, given the distance, this signal quality is really nice. How’s it hanging at treetop base? NADIA AL HANAKI: Same as always. Holding the fort until Veronica gets back. Lots of stoned zoms and flowers you can’t touch. Okay, guys. This is a highly covert op, and since Veronica and I have been working with the plants, the PAC has deemed me the person to handle it. We’re going to need to keep the radio chatter to a minimum. I’ll take the comms solo from here on out. SAM YAO: Yeah. Just be careful, alright? There’s a lot of people waiting to see you all safe and sound back home. Okay then. Get running! NADIA AL HANAKI: You should be coming up on a small forest. It’ll give you cover until you’re nearly at the distillery’s back gates. MAXINE MYERS: You know, I never asked. How did the Ministry figure out Moonchild was using an old tequila distillery for storage? VERONICA MCSHELL: The head of Pepe’s British Tequila used to be an organic chemist. He’d been living in their headquarters the whole outbreak. NADIA AL HANAKI: Veronica found him on Rofflenet. Caught him testing new formulations of our zombie repelling spray on rats. Then we lost contact with him a few weeks back. We asked the Ministry to send someone to look him up. VERONICA MCSHELL: And destroy his research notes. NADIA AL HANAKI: From what I heard, the woman they sent stopped for a quick taste of the house specialty on her way out. Then stopped wanting to leave at all. Told her handler she’d never felt as connected. BERNARD PRIOR: I’ve seen the image captures. The silly woman should have known tequila doesn’t turn brown when exposed to light. VERONICA MCSHELL: The Ministry wanted to blow the building up, but the extract’s just as dangerous inhaled as ingested. At high concentrations, it might only take one dose. So it’s either neutralize it chemically on-site or risk leaving everyone for miles around susceptible to mind control. I’ve got vials of the inhibiting agent we’re using for both of you. Be careful not to get any on yourself. I didn’t have time for proper clinical trial. NADIA AL HANAKI: You’re nearly at the target. My long-range cams are showing guards on the distillery roof. Someone’s expecting company. MAXINE MYERS: Aren’t they going to be able to see us once we’re away from the trees? NADIA AL HANAKI: I doubt it. Let’s just say we let the Ministry keep to part of the original plan. explosion BERNARD PRIOR: What was that? NADIA AL HANAKI: That was a pair of strategically placed pipe bombs blowing up the front gate. That should keep those guards well distracted. Get to the back fence as quick as you can, snip yourself a hole, and crawl through. Don’t waste the moment. rattles NADIA AL HANAKI: You’re through the fence. Good. Head for that big brick building. BERNARD PRIOR: What’s going on at the main gates? NADIA AL HANAKI: Good news, the explosion attracted a swarm of zoms this way. Bad news, my cams are showing a guard on the door nearest to you. Runner Five, it’s a good thing you brought your ax. Better get ready. MAXINE MYERS: You’re not suggesting Runner Five kill whoever’s out there? They’re mind-controlled, not a zombie! NADIA AL HANAKI: Then make sure you hit them with the blunt end. MAXINE MYERS: That’s your advice? NADIA AL HANAKI: Shh! Those people may be mind-controlled, but they can hear you! That guard’s headed your way. Five, get that weapon up. MAXINE MYERS: Careful, Five! collapses Oh, I couldn’t watch. What happened? BERNARD PRIOR: Clean hit. She’s out, but not for good. Honestly, Doctor, you can take your hands off your eyes. NADIA AL HANAKI: Looks like the door is clear for the moment. Let’s get you inside. VERONICA MCSHELL: Wait! BERNARD PRIOR: What now? VERONICA MCSHELL: I know that guard. That’s Misses Evans. She was one of the botanists at the treetop base. She invited me to come there in the first place. We can’t leave her out here! What if the zombies get in? NADIA AL HANAKI: Veronica! VERONICA MCSHELL: If we argue about it, we’ll waste time. Here, Five, get her other arm. We’ll only drag her inside the door for now. It’s not far. NADIA AL HANAKI: Fine, but keep moving. BERNARD PRIOR: Quite right. The last thing we need to do is to lose our heads over a distraction. creaks open, alarm blares NADIA AL HANAKI: Oh for – ! Find the extract as quickly as you can, and get out! Now, run! blares VERONICA MCSHELL: Check the distillation vats, those copper tanks along the walls. The extract should be in there. NADIA AL HANAKI: Runner Five, go back and lock that door. Most of Moonchild’s people are fighting the zombies at the gate, but they’re winning. You won’t be alone for long. MAXINE MYERS: Ugh! Whatever’s in this vat doesn’t smell like tequila. VERONICA MCSHELL: Don’t breathe it in! Use your pipette. Four drops of neutralizing agent in each vat. Bernard, take the row of vats to the right with Doctor Myers. Runner Five, you and I can take this side of the room. BERNARD PRIOR: This is a very efficient setup! I suppose one has to admire that woman’s ingenuity, if not her aims. All that time we spent in that coal cellar with her, drinking her revolting ginseng tea. If only we’d realized! One well-placed bullet could have ended it all. VERONICA MCSHELL: Five, that’s enough inhibitor in that vat. Go on to the next one. MAXINE MYERS: I’ve done these two tanks. NADIA AL HANAKI: Once you’ve finished here, there’s three more rooms of vats to deal with, down that long corridor. BERNARD PRIOR: How long have we got before the guards come? NADIA AL HANAKI: Not long. I can see at least ten headed your way on foot. BERNARD PRIOR: Any of them armed? NADIA AL HANAKI: All of them. Get moving. BERNARD PRIOR: Runner Five’s finished off the last vat in this room. Tell me that’s all of them. NADIA AL HANAKI: There were six vats missing in that last room Maxine covered. Apart from that, you’ve hit every tank in the building. Moonchild won’t be making any more CeretinPlus from this plant extract. Now, you’ve got about thirty seconds before those guards start trying – sighs to break through the front door! There’s a fire exit not far from you. Ministry files say it only opens from the inside. They won’t come after you that way. VERONICA MCSHELL: What about Misses Evans? BERNARD PRIOR: Leave her. Come on. They’ll be on top of us in a moment. VERONICA MCSHELL: No! Runner Five, follow me! MAXINE MYERS: Wait! Where are you going? VERONICA MCSHELL: We can make it back to the main door before the guards get in. We’ll carry her. I can install the cryo stasis chamber at treetop base. I know I can find a way to break the mind control! NADIA AL HANAKI: Veronica, you don’t have time! What are the rest of you doing? Get after her! VERONICA MCSHELL: Do you see those people through the window, Five? I know them. They’re the scientists from the treetop base. All the people who just upped and walked out one day after that woman visited us. The hippie with her stupid drumming circle, and her horrible ginseng tea. That was Moonchild, wasn’t it? Of course it was. I didn’t even realize it until now. If only we could transmit photos through Rofflenet. We would have known it was the same person, we could have - ! It doesn’t matter. It’s too late now. But we can help Misses Evans. Help me lift her. That’s it. Good. MAXINE MYERS: What are you doing? VERONICA MCSHELL: What does it look like? BERNARD PRIOR: It looks like you’re trying to get us all killed! NADIA AL HANAKI: That door’s not going to hold up much longer. You need to leave the building! VERONICA MCSHELL: I’m trying! MAXINE MYERS: Veronica, I know it’s hard to see a familiar face in a place like this. I’m sure Misses Evans was a nice person, but - VERONICA MCSHELL: You don’t understand! Do you know what it’s like to be doing differential calculus when other girls your age are still learning sums? Why do you think I left the Girl Guides, anyway? Cleverest girl in the room, and I couldn’t talk to anyone. MAXINE MYERS: Veronica, we have to go. VERONICA MCSHELL: Misses Evans – I skipped a Guiding meeting and went to the Natural History Museum to hear her lecture. Don’t you see? I could have been like Moonchild, too. We were both too bright, too young. But I had Misses Evans, and she didn’t. I need to help her. Please! MAXINE MYERS: I want you to help her, believe me when I say I want that! All we want is to find a way to break Moonchild’s hold on these people for good. But we can’t do any of that if you get caught here, do you understand? VERONICA MCSHELL: But - NADIA AL HANAKI: They’re through the door. Get out! gunshots MAXINE MYERS: We can fix this together, Veronica. I promise. Come with me. NADIA AL HANAKI: Somebody go somewhere already! MAXINE MYERS: We’ll set Misses Evans down behind this tank, Five. She’s out of the way of the gunfire. Now let’s go! rattles MAXINE MYERS: We’re through the fence. NADIA AL HANAKI: Keep running. I want you clear of the area. Bernard? We’ll have Runner One Three Six waiting to escort you back to New Canton. Veronica, where are you bunking tonight? VERONICA MCSHELL: I don’t know. Wherever’s closest. MAXINE MYERS: She’ll be fine. The guards won’t hurt each other. The mind control’s too fine-tuned for that. Oh, sorry. That’s not really a comfort. Come to Abel with us, Veronica. We could sit and talk. I uh, also didn’t really fit in when I was a kid, and I was a friend of your dad’s. I’d love to talk with you. VERONICA MCSHELL: I think I’d like that. But only for tonight. When Misses Evans invited me to the treetop base, she told me she’d gone there herself because of something she’d learned at the Natural History Museum. I never found out what it was. I think I should. We have to do whatever we can to stop Moonchild, don’t we? MAXINE MYERS: Yes, we do. And if anyone can work out what she’s done and how to stop her, Veronica, it’s you. NADIA AL HANAKI: You did great work today, guys. Moonchild’s taken a big blow. Now we have to keep hitting her until we’ve beaten her for good. Category:Mission Category:Season Three